Don't thwack yourself, just consider this: People are hired for jobs by people who've never met them before, all the time. Me, for example, in almost every job I've ever held, including the present one.

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Originally Posted by Sue

Mouse there is certainly some truth in what you posted. I've been in situations in the past where the hiring process was gone through from start to finish while all the time knowing the person we were hiring was a foregone conclusion. It sucks for all concerned. But as Lainie points out that's not the norm. My current job, for example, I got the old fashioned way. Saw an advert, sent in an application, went though the interview process and got the job. I didn't have an "in" and as far as I know they did have other qualified candidates. I got lucky.

It's the problem I keep running into: I do not have an In, due to being an isolated weirdo, and I don't know how to make a complete stranger like me in thirty minutes. Hence why I'm an isolated weirdo. Once I know something about people, beyond that they're carbon-based lifeforms who can't survive without oxygen and work for the company I want to work for, I can do okay. But it takes me a bit to feel someone out, figure out which of my People faces they want to see, which stuff it's appropriate to joke about, and what stuff do they generally want to hear.

I'm a hard worker and fiercely loyal, willing to come in even on days when I psychologically feel like shit, but I'm starting to think that loyal and hard-working are traits people admire in a dog, not a person. With people, they want someone they like and I can't make a stranger like me; it takes me time.

It may suck that the social aspect matters, but ultimately, it often does. People don't have to be clones to work together well -- in fact, it helps if they aren't -- but if a team doesn't get along, the work often suffers.